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Allô Frenchy -- would you have pics of converted axis vehicles? Cheers, Tat

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Hi Tat

Such pics probably exist, but I believe they're harder to find Production of trucks like the Opel Blitz started again after 1945, so one has to sort out wartime trucks from postwar ones...

For instance, here's a 1948 Mercedes-Benz L701 (licence-built Opel Blitz) :


Anyway here's a Bussing-NAG that looks like a demilitarized one...



and an ex-military Opel Blitz bus used by the Deutsche Post (1946) :



(from http://www.pietvanhees.nl/blitzbus/index.htm)

H.P.

I can remember reading an article about T-55s being converted to agricultural tractors and used on a Russian farm some time ago, but sadly I can't find any pictures, hopefully someone else will be more lucky than me

Just realized the second Vietnamese truck is a 2.5 ton one...

H.P.

Waaay cool!!!

Henri - Do not understand some of those Russian converted RV's but they look cool!

If you ask Google about "GMC pompier" you will get a lot of images of the Deuce dressed up as a fire fighting vehicle.

I like this one:


A really simply way could be this one:


The french fire brigades also used Willys jeeps, the Dodges and also surplus M54 and maybe a few M920 (images of the M54 and M920 series as fire engines are more difficult to find).
French ex-military vehicles were also used I suppose but those are a lot harder to find models of ...

Any military wrecker truck can be "civilianized" with some gloss paint, a company name and some minor detailing to adapt it to civilian road regulations about lights and stuff.


A rather radical conversion, can't tell if they used a 4x4 chassis or shortened a 6x6 and rebuilt the suspension to be single rear axle. With this as reference I would say that almost anything is possible. Go wild and use your imagination ...



A lot of M26 (Dragon Wagon) were used to haul heavy stuff in France, both the armoured and unarmoured versions. Sometimes they got rebuilt cabs to get better visibility, some of them with large windows by the drivers and co-drivers feet to be able to see the edge of the road just in front of the steering wheels ...







Rebuilt upper part of the cabin, re-engined (Mercedes ? or Berliet), new wheels and rims?, maybe new heavy axles as well? It's possible to use some "artistic licence" with this type of truck since they were often rebuilt/modified by the owners ...


Almost forgot: some circus companys used surplus US vehicles in the early fifties since they were cheap and there were a lot of them standing around in France, some of them almost unused with very low mileages ....

GMC and a Willys working for the Pinder circus:


other end of the GMC


and a Dodge :-)


Water tanker used by Pinder as a fire engine ?


Charles Thurstons amusements ??


/ Robin